Guys, I am usualy pretty good at networking however, this task has me at a loss. What I am trying to accomplish is connecting my parents in home network and my in home network. We both use FIOS internet so it is always on. We have dynamic IP addresses. umm, basically I am trying to connect 2 LANs together via a WAN so I can share data between the 2 like movies, music, data, and printers.

I believe what I am trying to accomplish I can set up via a VPN tunnel between the 2 sites that will always be connected.

so what I am wondering what kind of hardware do I need to accomplish this. I already have a mini with OSX 10.6 client on it that I use a multimedia server. I do not need anything very powerful so I don't think a Mac Pro would be useful although the 2 NICs would be a plus. Can I get a way with this by using 2 Minis, and a VPN server on both or does one have to be a client??

You won't be able to accomplish this with a site-to-site VPN tunnel unless one of you has a static IP. Once that is done, you would setup a VPN tunnel where the dynamically IP network initiates a connection to the static.

To setup the tunnel, both networks must not overlap (i.e. both running 192.168.1.x/24). I'm not sure if Snow Leopard Server would work or not, but Draytek offers some routers with VPN capabilities.

You won't be able to accomplish this with a site-to-site VPN tunnel unless one of you has a static IP. Once that is done, you would setup a VPN tunnel where the dynamically IP network initiates a connection to the static.

To setup the tunnel, both networks must not overlap (i.e. both running 192.168.1.x/24). I'm not sure if Snow Leopard Server would work or not, but Draytek offers some routers with VPN capabilities.

thank you for that information. I can't even do a DynDNS solution? I know I was able to do a VPN server with DynDNS.

How about a a solution that is not always connected but can be connected by me if needed to?? I sometimes have to help my parents with the mac because it is new to both of them and being able to share screen is a bonus, although I could just use ichat...umm

Now that I think about it, it might work, but I've never done it that way. I've always setup VPNs with IP addresses, not DNS.

, like I said. this one has me stumped. guess I can try it. what the hell I have nothing to loose. except a little money that I am going to spend anyways. good thing both sites are only 15 minutes apart. haha

what about hardware?? can I just use my current mini and get another one for my parents. I want to ultimately replace the apple tv they have